Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-04-01
WHERE Oct IS FOUND.
'Claius of the II rkshire People q Regard
iss! W. III to Its FOrmAtfO ions.

Cl2lme 81 thes 10fkshife People N. Regard
& 81 Il TO IT. Fornaati ions. ss9
Jet IS ! shining black substance which
IL found ia seams dissociated from
other black minerals, and not in the
eoal regions Of England, but in others,
notably near Whitby, il Yorkshire. It
L occurs also ia Saxony and in the amber
districts on the Prussian shores Of the
Baltic. The scientists maintain thatit
is q variety Of coal, but the Whitby
folks adduce many circumstances that
go to prove that it must have been at
some time in gummy or semi-liquid
state quite unlike coal from ;.lgenous
sources. Bits OF vegetable substances
are often found imhsdded in it, also
flies wings aud other small articles
which favor the Whitby theory.
:, !. The stratum called jet rock is fount
mostly at Whitby, in atsort Of shale,
which. when distilled, yields ten gal
Ions of oil to a ton. The nature OF
the connection between this Oil and jet
can not now, be determined, though
some connection evidently existed IN
past times. There is hard jet and soft
jet, the former being the best 1t &C.
ours in detached pieces, ranging in
size from domino up to those many
pounds in wei ght The largest piece
ever found was six feetlong, FIVE inches
wide and one and half inches thick
The British Museum refused to give
ten guineas for it, but dealer paid
fifteen for it and cut it up into CRISES
Of unusual size. How long jet, o.
black amber, as it was formerly called.
has been worked at Whitby is no,
known, but certainly for many centu
ries. il.
In a tumulus or barrow near tho
town the skeleton of a lady was found
supposed to belong to the ancient Brit
| ish days, before the date of the Danisl,
;nvasions, and with it were earrings o.
jet two inches long by a, quarter of ar
inch thick. They were heart-shaped.
with a hole in the upper part for the
wire. Jet possesses considerable cleo
trio qualities like amber It was mad:
into beads and rosaries in the middle
ages by the monks, As trade it had
not much activity till the beginning o.
the present century. The Spaniards
made beads and rosaries of the soft
kind of jet, and when English ladie.
began to wear it in mourning tn
Whitby industry began to flourish. A.
drst the workers used only knives ano
files, but Matthew Hill discovered ),
method Of turning this brittle substance.
IN lathe. The largest find ever mad:
was 40 years ago, at North Bats, :,
spot in the neighborhood of Whitby
and consisted of $40 pieces of stones
valued at $3.50. The jet is picket w
on the shore, at the foot of the cliffs
but this is of an inferior quality. +
dangerous mode of obtaining it is t.,
cut down the face of the cliff, until q
! jet seam is reached. It is also tunnelet
for twenty miles inland, near Bilsdale
in the Cleveland hills. The men rem
the workings, as in the copper and til,
mines of Cornwall, and they may work
a month without coming across bit oil
the precious stuff: The prices for thu
best hard jet is three shillings pound
for the soft, one shilling. The Whitb,
variety is the finest known, as it i;
tougher and more elastic than an,
other, and admits OF higher polish
Many articles sold in the shops a
Whitby jet are derived from the Pyre
nees, and are liable to break through
sudden heat or cold, which is due to
slight per cent. of sulphur in the Span
ish variety. Call.